The Maedus Touch - The Designer Dynasty Behind MAZDA’S Iconic Sports Cars
07-17-09, 01:21 PM
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The Maedus Touch - The Designer Dynasty Behind MAZDA’S Iconic Sports Cars
I found this interesting bit of RX-7 history in the Summer 08 issue of Zoom-Zoom magazine published in PDF form found on The Mazdaspeed Development website. The content is on page 53-59 with some nice pics of the green SA that was featured in launch ads around the globe.
http://www.mazdaspeeddevelopment.com...m_summer08.pdf
I've embedded the article for the forum archive in case link / content moves.
_________
THIRTY YEARS ON, Matasaburo Maeda
clearly remembers the letter opener he
gave his teenage son, Ikuo. "The glistening
stainless steel knife, designed by Enzo
Mari, had a subtle twist at the center, as
if turned by a man of great strength.
“I bought it in Turin. In those days I
o$ en visited the city. Giorgetto Giugiaro
was there then; it was kind of a mecca for
car designers. In terms of design, there
was nothing like this letter opener in
Japan. With that little twist, it became this
beautiful form like a propeller. I wanted
whole new expression could be achieved.”
Ikuo also remembers receiving the letter
opener: “It was as if I had encountered a
designed object for the very ! rst time.
" is little conceit of the twist—it was
very beautiful. I thought, ‘Ah, this is what
design is all about.’ ’’
Matasaburo was chief designer of the
first-generation Mazda RX-7, and 20
years later his son headed the design team
for its successor, the RX-8. Was this a trick
of fate, the result of DNA, a father’s scheme?
“Even though the word ‘designer’ sounds
attractive, the work itself is arduous and
I never took it home with me,” says
Matasaburo.
Ikuo does recall visits to their home
from Giugiaro and from Nuccio Bertone,
and adds: “Although I never wanted to
become a car designer, I was probably
in# uenced by this environment, as I always
knew that I wanted to make things, to be
a creator of some sort.”
At the time Ikuo received the letter
opener, his father was wholly involved in
the development of the RX-7.
"This was in the mid 1970s, around the
time of the first oil crisis when Japan’s
economic growth was starting to falter. To
develop a sports car amid this instability was
seen as not only going against the grain but
also as possibly foolish. Nevertheless, Mazda
dared to take the bet.
Matasaburo remembers how intense
it was: “We were told, ‘Hurry up.’ We
suddenly got together with a group of
engineers and simply started working
on our secret project.
“The beauty of it was the shape of the
rotary engine. We were all looking forward
to the ‘new’ and the rotary was just that.
As a result, the new front midship layout
was born [the engine was mounted at the
front behind the axle]. Moreover, this meant
that you could bring the nose down lower.
This was amazing, and no one else in the
industry was able to do it at the time.”
Such was the pace of the project that
the first generation RX-7 came to be after
only three years of development. The year
was 1978, and a legend was born.
Around this time, Ikuo had begun
studying industrial design at university
in Kyoto. On a school break, he drove
to his hometown of Hiroshima. And what
did he show up in? A white Mazda RX-7.
“I didn’t know my father had been
involved in the design of the RX-7. I had
bought this car simply because it was the
fastest thing out there, and I thought it
looked pretty good, too,” says Ikuo.
Ikuo joined Mazda in 1982, and when
the successor to his father’s iconic RX-7
was proposed, he was the man assigned
the role of designing it.
Matasaburo only learned of his son’s
involvement in carrying on the legacy three
months before the RX-8 went on sale in 2003.
“THE BEAUTY OF THE PROJECT WAS THE
SHAPE OF THE ROTARY ENGINE.
WE COULD BRING THE NOSE DOWN
LOWER, AND THIS WAS AMAZING”
“One day Ikuo showed me a photo of the
RX-8 from a brochure. He asked me to
evaluate it. I said, ‘Oh, it’s rather good.’ I
thought he’d done a ! ne job. It’s true of
the MAZDA2 as well … there’s something
about his design that just hits me. I get it.
It’s not because he’s my son. It’s probably
the Mazda DNA. When I see an RX-8
I’m astonished that it’s a sports car yet
still has four doors.”
Ikuo explains that it was this necessity
that predicated the design of the RX-8:
“Since I had to create a four-seater car,
the cabin would have to be more spacious.
But the risk was that this expansion
would destroy the sports car form. I
came up with the idea of removing the
center pillar and creating the freestyle
rear-hinged doors. " ere’s always a reason
behind a design, this is a key point.”
Ikuo goes on to explain the di! erence
between his design philosophy and that of
his father: “If you called my father’s design
quiet and sleek, mine is both dynamic and
full of movement. He pursues forms that are
stable, whereas mine are all about instability
and " uidity. He was trained as an engineer
and his work re" ected the trend for the
simple and functional, whereas I have been
breaking away from that and representing
the more emotional brand of today. Yet
even though our expression di! ers greatly,
as designers we both implement design
with reason and with functionality.”
In his day Matasaburo was a true pioneer,
says Ikuo: “My father wanted to become
a designer at a time in Japan when the
category of ‘car designer’ simply didn’t
exist. He was ahead of his time.”
Today Ikuo has his own unique vision,
which he is applying to Mazda design.
Coincidentally, he is about the same age
as his father was when he gave him that
Italian letter opener. The inspiring object, with its simple,
beautiful twist. As it happens, it’s a little
like the twist in the DNA spiral.
http://www.mazdaspeeddevelopment.com...m_summer08.pdf
I've embedded the article for the forum archive in case link / content moves.
_________
THIRTY YEARS ON, Matasaburo Maeda
clearly remembers the letter opener he
gave his teenage son, Ikuo. "The glistening
stainless steel knife, designed by Enzo
Mari, had a subtle twist at the center, as
if turned by a man of great strength.
“I bought it in Turin. In those days I
o$ en visited the city. Giorgetto Giugiaro
was there then; it was kind of a mecca for
car designers. In terms of design, there
was nothing like this letter opener in
Japan. With that little twist, it became this
beautiful form like a propeller. I wanted
whole new expression could be achieved.”
Ikuo also remembers receiving the letter
opener: “It was as if I had encountered a
designed object for the very ! rst time.
" is little conceit of the twist—it was
very beautiful. I thought, ‘Ah, this is what
design is all about.’ ’’
Matasaburo was chief designer of the
first-generation Mazda RX-7, and 20
years later his son headed the design team
for its successor, the RX-8. Was this a trick
of fate, the result of DNA, a father’s scheme?
“Even though the word ‘designer’ sounds
attractive, the work itself is arduous and
I never took it home with me,” says
Matasaburo.
Ikuo does recall visits to their home
from Giugiaro and from Nuccio Bertone,
and adds: “Although I never wanted to
become a car designer, I was probably
in# uenced by this environment, as I always
knew that I wanted to make things, to be
a creator of some sort.”
At the time Ikuo received the letter
opener, his father was wholly involved in
the development of the RX-7.
"This was in the mid 1970s, around the
time of the first oil crisis when Japan’s
economic growth was starting to falter. To
develop a sports car amid this instability was
seen as not only going against the grain but
also as possibly foolish. Nevertheless, Mazda
dared to take the bet.
Matasaburo remembers how intense
it was: “We were told, ‘Hurry up.’ We
suddenly got together with a group of
engineers and simply started working
on our secret project.
“The beauty of it was the shape of the
rotary engine. We were all looking forward
to the ‘new’ and the rotary was just that.
As a result, the new front midship layout
was born [the engine was mounted at the
front behind the axle]. Moreover, this meant
that you could bring the nose down lower.
This was amazing, and no one else in the
industry was able to do it at the time.”
Such was the pace of the project that
the first generation RX-7 came to be after
only three years of development. The year
was 1978, and a legend was born.
Around this time, Ikuo had begun
studying industrial design at university
in Kyoto. On a school break, he drove
to his hometown of Hiroshima. And what
did he show up in? A white Mazda RX-7.
“I didn’t know my father had been
involved in the design of the RX-7. I had
bought this car simply because it was the
fastest thing out there, and I thought it
looked pretty good, too,” says Ikuo.
Ikuo joined Mazda in 1982, and when
the successor to his father’s iconic RX-7
was proposed, he was the man assigned
the role of designing it.
Matasaburo only learned of his son’s
involvement in carrying on the legacy three
months before the RX-8 went on sale in 2003.
“THE BEAUTY OF THE PROJECT WAS THE
SHAPE OF THE ROTARY ENGINE.
WE COULD BRING THE NOSE DOWN
LOWER, AND THIS WAS AMAZING”
“One day Ikuo showed me a photo of the
RX-8 from a brochure. He asked me to
evaluate it. I said, ‘Oh, it’s rather good.’ I
thought he’d done a ! ne job. It’s true of
the MAZDA2 as well … there’s something
about his design that just hits me. I get it.
It’s not because he’s my son. It’s probably
the Mazda DNA. When I see an RX-8
I’m astonished that it’s a sports car yet
still has four doors.”
Ikuo explains that it was this necessity
that predicated the design of the RX-8:
“Since I had to create a four-seater car,
the cabin would have to be more spacious.
But the risk was that this expansion
would destroy the sports car form. I
came up with the idea of removing the
center pillar and creating the freestyle
rear-hinged doors. " ere’s always a reason
behind a design, this is a key point.”
Ikuo goes on to explain the di! erence
between his design philosophy and that of
his father: “If you called my father’s design
quiet and sleek, mine is both dynamic and
full of movement. He pursues forms that are
stable, whereas mine are all about instability
and " uidity. He was trained as an engineer
and his work re" ected the trend for the
simple and functional, whereas I have been
breaking away from that and representing
the more emotional brand of today. Yet
even though our expression di! ers greatly,
as designers we both implement design
with reason and with functionality.”
In his day Matasaburo was a true pioneer,
says Ikuo: “My father wanted to become
a designer at a time in Japan when the
category of ‘car designer’ simply didn’t
exist. He was ahead of his time.”
Today Ikuo has his own unique vision,
which he is applying to Mazda design.
Coincidentally, he is about the same age
as his father was when he gave him that
Italian letter opener. The inspiring object, with its simple,
beautiful twist. As it happens, it’s a little
like the twist in the DNA spiral.
07-17-09, 04:16 PM
#2
wheres the water goin?
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i have this one at my house i got them every couple of months in the mail, i thought that i was pretty cool that Matasaburo's is the designer for the 8 very cool
07-18-09, 03:49 AM
#3
Wow - so Mazda actually acknowledges the x605 design as coming from ONE person? Huh. Thought the Group-Design Theory prevented individual acknowledgements like that. Nice to hang an actual name onto our beloved car's great looks.
Just choking down the PDf to have a look -
Thanks Mike!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
Just choking down the PDf to have a look -
Thanks Mike!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
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